They used eight bowlers, but struggled to apply any pressure as the visitors batted out their overs.

The draw earned Skegness seven points and they registered the maximum five with the bat, so the tally of 14 was enough to lift them above both Hartsholme and Lindum into eighth place in the league table.

The home side carried on where they left off the previous week with some excellent scoring strokes from openers Norman Brackley and Pete Houghton.

They reached 100 in the 21st over without too many scares but Houghton perished at the hands of Nel with the scoreboard showing the dreaded Nelson (111).

Paul Butler, still smarting from a torn hamstring, would not have appreciated the two risky singles he was called upon to run by Brackley. But both earned them overthrows when the fielders missed the stumps.

So it was ironic, as well as uncharacteristic, when he was dismissed shortly afterwards missing an early delivery from Nel.

Carl Wilson put on 32 with Brackley before the big Zimbabwe-born opener was caught by Tim Shooter off Henry Rush’s bowling.

This brought together Wilson and Wade McCall for the 116-run stand that strengthened the seasiders’ grip on the game, before McCall became Rush’s second victim.

Wilson carried his bat and finished on 63, the fourth batsman to score a half century in the innings.

Nel and Rush opened the Hartsholme reply and when Nel left in the ninth over he had scored 19 of the 21 runs on the board. But Rush picked up the baton with Nathan Poundall, putting on 115 for the second wicket.

Poundall fell one short of his 50 when he was stumped by Wilson off Jamie Epton’s bowling.

But it was Epton’s third wicket that provided the late drama with Rush caught in the last over just four runs short of a century.

Hartsholme were never really up with the pace, but did enough to prevent the home side bowling them out.

Skegness will play host to league leaders Bracebridge Heath on Saturday, with a 12.30pm start, hoping to gain enough points to continue their climb away from the relegation zone.